Protective device.



E. E. F. CREIGHTON. PROTECTIVE DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, I912.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

In ventor I I! I 1/ A 1/ I I V I 1 1 I I 1 I I Elmer E. F. CIeZiQhtOn,

His DTttorneg.

- protective devices that the cost is prohibi-' .UnrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMEB E. F. CREIGHTON, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROTECTIVE DEVICE.

Application filed May 2,

To allwhom it may concern:

Be' it known that I, ELMER E. F. CREIGH moiv, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady,

State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Protective Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to protective devices, such as lightning arresters, for protecting electrical apparatus against abnormal volt-- ages and surges, and more particularly to lightning arresters of the type iniwhich a number of gaps in series prevent flow of currentat the normal voltage of the line but permit an abnormal voltage to discharge through the gaps to ground.

For complete protection of the electrical apparatus of a distribution system against abnormaL voltages, surges, high frequency oscillation and other electrical disturbances commonly known as lightning, each piece of apparatus should be providedwith' a protective device, but inmany installations complete protection would require so many tive. In such cases the protective devices availableare distributed over the system to be protected, but the protection secured in this manner is not always sufiicient. More complete protection than can be secured by protective devices placed at comparatively great distances apart is particularly necessa ry in distribution systems containing large numbers of small transformers, these transformers usually being mounted on poles at different points on the distribution system. .In such cases it is very desirable that each transformer be provided with an efiicient form of lightning arrester, but heretofore such protection has not been feasible on account of the cost.

The object of myinvention is to provide an inexpensive and efficient protective device which will be cheap enough to warrant its installation for the protection of apparatus of comparatively low cost; which is waterproof and uninjured by exposure to the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 30, 191 '7.

1912. Serial No. 694,776. I

tinuous discharge through the arrester to ground; which has as high a discharge rate as possible so that abnormal potential will be quickly removed from the distribution system; in which the arc extinguishing effeet is much greater than in the multigap lighting arrestqs' commonly used; in Which the discharge gaps are built up inthe form of units providing more discharge surface than the cylinders of the ordinary type of 'multigap and so constructed that relative displacement of the electrodes is highly improbable; in which the electrodes are so formed that a discharge heavy enough to melt them will not'cause a metallic bridge to be formed from line to ground; and

which is in many particulars hereinafter "aset forth an improvement'in protective devices of, this general character.

My invention, which comprises the various modifications and improvements more particularly pointed out hereinafter and defined in the appended claims, will best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings which, merely for the purposes of illustration, show one of the numerous forms in which my invention may be embodied and in which I 1 Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an improved protective device or lightning arrester embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional View of one of the units consisting of two electrodes properly spaced to form aspark gap; Fig. 3 is a view showing the arrester in position on the pole; Fig. 4 is a view showing the position of the parts when the arrester has been broken by a continuous dischargeand a large gap is formed in the path from the line to ground as a result of the breaking of the arrester; Fig. 5 is, a'longitudinal section of part of the resistance rod .9, showing the porcelain rlngs and the metal rings on the,rod; and Fig. 6 1s .a cross section .on the line 6-6 of Fig.

'In the particular form of protective device shown in the drawings, the discharge path to ground comprises a number of spark gaps which are so proportioned that an abnormal voltage can discharge through them to ground but the normal voltage of the line is not great enough to malntain a flow of current through the gaps. The spark gaps are between metal electrodes spaced a short distance from one another. A. very heavy flow of current may melt metal electrodes with my invention the spark gaps and the resistances in series with them are inclosed in 'a tube 1, preferably ma he of porcela n or other suitable insulating material. This tube is so designed that it will crack and break ofi if excessive heat is applied to it.

' The tube is tightly sealed, so that the parts inside of it'a're thoroughly protected from water and from the weather. At one end the arrester is connected to the line by a lead 2 and atthe other end the arrester is connected to ground through a suitable ground connection 3. In some cases the lead Q may be connected to ground and the lead 3 to line. In the specific arrangement shownin the drawings the upper end of the tube is closed by a cap 4 made in any suitable form, such as a bell, to shed rain. Through this cap the lead 2 to the line extends, while the lower end is closed by a cap or socket 5 containing a recess into which the lower end of the tube is cemented by some suitable insulating cement 6. The particular form of arrester shown in the drawing is designed to be secured to the pole or cross arm on which the transformer is mounted, and therefore the cap or base 5 is provided with holes by means of which it may be secured in position on the cross arm.

When an abnormal voltage or surge appears upon the line it attempts to pass to ground through the windings of the transformer or other apparatus to be protected and also through the lightning arrester. The spark gaps break down, and permit the abnormal voltage to pass to ground, whereby the transformer or other apparatus is protected from injury. The flow of current is kept within limits by a series resistance, which is preferably made in the form of aresistance stick somewhat smaller than the base of the tube 1 and having one end connected to a terminal of the arrester and the other end to the spark gaps. In the particular arrangement shown, connection with the line is made by means of a contact plate 7, secured in the cap 4 and having a spring 8 which firmly engages and presses upon the end of a large resistance stick or rod 9 placed longitudinally in the tube. The discharge to ground of very high potentials is facilitated by providing a discharge path in shunt to the resistance rod 9, so the discharge can flowthrough the shunt path as These. rings or sleeves are held in place on v the rod by metal caps 9 secured to the ends of the rod in any suitable way, as by being spun on the ends of the rod. The rings 10 are separated from one another by spark gaps of suitable size and are so proportioned as to have that amount of capacity Which is best adapted to facilitate discharge of high frequency surges to ground. Upon the occurrence of conditions which cause a heavy flow of current to ground, a part of the current will pass through the resistance rod 9 while the remainder. will pass through the shunt path by flowing through the. sleeves or rings 10 and through the air gaps between the rings.

The rings or sleeves 10 may be constructed in various Ways and may beinsulated from the rod 9 in any suitable manner, but the preferred construction is that shown in the drawings in which the rings 10 are some distance apart and each ring is provided on the edges with extensions 10 which form the electrodes of ,spark gaps of the proper size between the rings. As more clearly appears from Fig. 6, each of the rings 10 is provided with three extensions 10 so that there are three spark gaps between each pair of rings.

The rings 10 are preferably insulated from the resistance rod 9 by insulating rings 10 preferably made of porcelain or similar refractory insulating material and cu away at points on the circumference, as best shown in Fig. 6, to provide a considerable space beneath the spark gaps formed by the extensions 1O on the rings 10. Thesecutaway portions of the porcelain rings 10- are proportioned to make the leakage surface from one ring to the other fully as great at the spark gaps between the extensions 10 as at any other point between the rings. As best shown in Fig. 5, the porcelain rings 1O have recesses near the edges into which the metal sleeves 'Or rings 10 fit, so that when the metal sleeves 10 and the rings 10 are assembled in place on the rod 9 and are clamped in position between the caps 9 the metal sleeves .10 are firmly held in position by the porcelain rings 10 and at the same time are insulated from the resistance rod 9. As the spark gaps between the rings are very close to the walls of the tube 1, the discharge through the gaps is not only shunted by the resistance rod 9 but is also strongly cooled by the walls of the tube 1 and, therefore, is quickly extinguished.

ground. This continuous discharge may, for

" such cases the distribution system is practically grounded, and in order to relieve the system of the ground I provide, in accordance with my invention, means whereby the arrester will breakunder such abnormal and continuous discharges and will break in such a manner that the discharge path to ground is interrupted. In the preferred arrangement for accomplishing this result the resistance rod 9 is placed in thermal relation with the porcelain tube 1 so as to heat the tube as the resistance 9 becomes hot. The rod 9 is usually made of carborundum or similar refractory material of high resist ance, and a heavy flow of current through it will quickly heat it to a very high temperature, thereby heating that part of theporcelain tube near the resistance and cracking it so that the upper part of the tube breaks off. Some suitable means is provided for putting the upper end of the tube under a stress which tends' to separate it from the lower part, so that when the tube'breaks .in two the upper end will automatically be moved some distance away from the lower end, thereby making'a very large gap in the path from line to ground, The preferred construction is that'shown in which the connection to the line exerts a stress upon 'the upper end of the tube and pulls it away from the lower end when the tube breaks off, whereupon the upper part of the arrestrand the resistance rod swing off to one side, as shown in Fig. 4:, thereby. leavinga large gap in the connection to ground and at the same time clearly showing that the arrester has been broken and must be replaced;

The spark gaps in'series with the resistance rod 9 may be of any suitable form but in the preferred construction, best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, electrodes 11, made of thin sheets or disks of sheet metal suitably dished or concaved, are spaced so as to leave a spark gap between them. Each spark gap is made in the form of a unit comprising two electrodes mounted so asto bring their discharge surfaces 12 adjacent each other. These discharge surfaces are preferably roughened 'in some suitable way, as by knurling, and offer a greater surface for discharge than the discharge surfaces of the cylindrical electrodes generally used for spark gaps. The electrodes are spaced away from each other by some suitable spacer, such as a proper relation to form a sealed unit.

near their edges to form a substantially closed chamber containing the spark gap between the discharge surfaces 12 of the electrodes 11. For all ordinary conditions the spacer or ring 13 may be made of porcelain.

As the electrodes 11 and the spacers 13 are of a diameter only slightly lessthan the bore of the tube 1 they cannot be displaced laterally to any appreciable extent. When a discharge occurs from one electrode to the other through the. spark gap, the air, or other dielectric in the spark gap is heated and as the electrodes 11 with the spacer 13 form a closed chamber from which air can escape ring 13, which engages the electrodes 11" only with difliculty, the heating of the dielec-.

tric increases its pressure, which in turn increases its tendency to extinguish the disable to providea discharge path in shunt to the sparkgap. An easy way of provid ing such a shunt path is to make the spacer 13 of carborundum or some compound of carborundum so proportioned as to offer high resistance to current flow at the normal voltage of the arrester but to break down and permit comparatively free current flow at higher voltage. With carborundum spacers a very high voltage discharge can pass to ground,'not only through the spark gaps, but also through the spacers.

.The spark gap construction used in this arrester decreases the tendency to the formation of short circuits from line to ground on heavy discharges as the thiIY metal electrodes 11 1 are notnearly so aptto spatter molten metal across the "spark gap and thereby bridge the gap, as are solid electrodes. The ability "of an arrester of this type to extinguish-the are which is formed by high potential discharge depends to a large extent upon the number of spark gaps and in order 'to make the number of gaps as great as possible and at the same time permit the gaps to breakdown upon a,

slight increase in voltage above the normal voltage of the line, I increase the number of gaps and then make each gap break down more easily by suitable means, such as'inetal rods or antennae 14,- which are connected to one terminal of the arrester and extend along the gaps in a position to exert an electrostatic influence on the gaps and thereby influence their breakdown voltage. The

T electrostatic capacity of the electrodes toward the antennav is considerable as compared to the electrostatic capacity between adjacent electrodes. The preferred form of antennae is that shown in the drawing, and consists of a U-shaped' metal strip 14 connected to the ground lead 3 and extending along the outside of the tube 1 over the greater portion of the spark gaps. 1 prefer to make the length of the antennae equal to about seven-eighths of the total length of the number of spark gaps used. When the lead 2 is connected to ground and lead 3 to line the antennae 14 are line antennae and therod 9 is a ground antennae for the spark gaps between the sleeves 10.

The-arc extinguishing power of the-arrester is further increased bythe cooling action of the porcelain tube 1 which surrounds the gap units quite closely and assists in'extinguishing any arcs which are severe enough to cause an escape of air and arc gases fromthe interior of the gap units. In such cases the gases under high pressure lift the electrodes 11 away from the spacers '13 to a slight extent andcome in contact with the walls of the tube 1, by which they are quickly cooled. The tube 1 is tightly closed at each end and the clearancesin the tube are small, consequently any arcing causes the pressure of the air in the tube 1 to rise, whereby its arc'extinguis-hing action is'increased.

My invention may be embodied in many other forms than that shown and described, and I therefore do not limit it to the precise arrangement disclosed except in'so far as it is limited by the scope of the appended claims.

What 1 claim as new and desire to se cure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s:-

1. In a protective device, 'a'discharge path comprising a plurality of conducting members normally held in position by pressure on the end members and free to separate when relieved of said pressure, and a heat responsive support normally incontact with said and members to exert an endwise pressure thereon and hold all said members in normal relation and broken by. abnormally high heat in said discharge path.

2. In a -protective device, a discharge path comprising a plurality of conducting members and an insulating spacer placed endto end to form a column with two of said members separated by said spacer to form a spark gap, and a support-for'engag ing the end members of said column and normally exerting an. endwise pressure thereon to hold said members'ln posltion,

said support being in thermal relation to said discharge path to relieve the endwise pressure on said conducting members and thereby leave said members free to separate.

3. A protective device comprising an insulating tube frangible by local heating, a discharge path in said tube comprisinga resistance rod and electrodes spaced apart to form a spark gap and means in engagement with said tube for exerting a pressure on the end of said rod to hold it in contact with one of said electrodes and produce a stress which tends to elongate said tube whereby abnormal heating of said resistance rod produces fracture of said tube and leaves said resistance rod free 'to separate from said electrode.

1. A protective device comprising a pl-urality of spark gap units each comprising a closed chamber containing an insulating fluid and electrodes spaced apart in said chamber to form a spark gap in which the dielectric is put under pressure by a discharge through said gap, and a closed container inclosing said spark gap units with' with said wallsto form a pressure retaining chamber, said metal ends forming the electrodes of a spark gap in said chamber, a

sealed porcelain tube encircling said units with slight clearance, a resistance rod in said tube with one end in engagement with said series of units, and resilient means for engaging the other end of said resistance rod to hold said rod and said units firmly in place."

6. A protective device comprising a porcelain tube closed at both ends,a discharge path through said tube comprising a resistance rod, and an arc extinguishing portion in series with said rod, said arc extinguishing portion comprising a plurality of s ark gap units, each unit comprising two s eet metal electrodes, and an insulating spacing ring between said electrodes and in engagement with the edges thereof to form with said electrodes a pressure retaining chamber, said electrodes being dished toward each other at the middle to form discharge surfaces. 7. A protective device comprising an insulating tube closed at the ends, a discharge path through said tube comprising a resistance rod inserieswith a plurality of elec-' trodes spaced apart to form a plurality of spark gaps, means for connecting one end of said discharge path to line and the other end to ground, and a metal conductor connected trodes spaced apart to form a plurality of spark gaps, means for connecting one end of said discharge path to line and the other end to ground, and a metal yoke connected to ground and extending along the exterior of said tube a distance equal to about seventh eighths of the total length of the spark gap portion of said discharge path.

9. In a protective device, a discharge path comprising a resistance rod, an insulating tube surrounding said rod, and metallic electrodes positioned along said rod on said tube and spaced apart to form spark gaps.

10. In a protective device, a discharge path comprising a resistance rod, a plurality of electrodes mounted side by side on said rod and insulated therefrom, said electrodes being spaced. apart toform spark gaps, and means for electrically connecting the end electrodes to said resistance rod.

11. In a protective device, a discharge path comprising a resistance rod, metal sleeves encircling said rod and spaced apart to form spark gaps, and insulating supports mounted on said rod to support said sleeves,-

said insulating supports being proportioned to render the leakage surface from one sleeve to the next equal at all points on the circumference of said sleeves.

12. In a protective device, a discharge path comprising a resistance rod, a plurality of metal sleeves encircling said rod and each provided with a projection at the edge, said sleeves ,being positioned tobring the projec- ;tion on each sleeve adjacent the similar projection on the next sleeve whereby said projections form the electrodes of a spark gap, and insulating supports between said. sleeves and said rod, said supports having radial-depressions adjacent the extensions on said sleeves.

13. In a protective device, a discharge path comprising a resistance rod having a metal cap at each end, a plurality of porcelain supporting rings strung upon said rod, each of said rings having a radial depression therein, and a plurality of metal sleeves mounted upon said porcelain rings and spaced apart by them each of said metal sleeves having a projection on the edge in alinement with the radial depression in its supporting porcelain ring whereby each spark gap between said metal sleeves is in the depression of the porcelain supporting rings.

14. In a protective device, a discharge,

path comprising a resistance rod, and a plurality of 'metal sleeves surrounding said rod and spaced apart to form a plurality of spark gaps in parallel with said rod, said sleeves being so proportioned that the electrostatic capacity between any sleeve and the rod or earth is large as compared to the capacity to the adjacent sleeves.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of April, 1912.

' ELMER E. F. CREIGHTON. 'Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, -HELEN ORFORD. 

